Dave Meder (original) (raw)
Pianist, composer, and educator Dave Meder is one of the prominent artists of his generation, known for a broad musical palette recognized in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, the American Pianists Awards, and the Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commissioning program. His defining aesthetic is a strikingly postmodern sense of stylistic adventure, incorporating what All About Jazz describes as “a vibrant hybrid of the whole American spectrum.” His first album Passage was counted among the top five jazz debuts in the Ottawa Citizen and was included in the annual “Favorite Jazz Albums” list from All Music Guide, noted for its skillful balancing of “post-bop harmonies with soulful gospel warmth and contemporary classical sophistication.” His second release Unamuno Songs and Stories used the works of Spanish Civil War-era philosopher Miguel de Unamuno to respond to sociopolitical turmoil in the United States, while his latest release **New American Hymnal**continues a musical exploration of American civic and religious culture. Meder has headlined stages or conducted educational residencies at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, as well as internationally in Portugal, Spain, China, Japan, Brazil, and most recently Egypt as a US Fulbright Scholar. Dave is a Yamaha Artist and a professor at University of North Texas.
unamuno
songs and stories
2021 (Outside In Music)
“Using the writings of Spanish Civil War-era philosopher Miguel de Unamuno as historical context, Meder leads an intensely emotive and brilliantly orchestrated set that explores the tensions between democracyand authoritarianism, internationalism and nationalism, and religious faith and non-belief.”
Passage
2019 (Outside In Music)
“The jazz pianist's engaging debut balances post-bop harmonies with a soulful gospel warmth and contemporary classical sophistication.”
- All Music Guide’s “Favorite Jazz Albums of 2019”
New American Hymnal
2023 (Outside In Music)
An exploration of American civic culture and religion, using the metaphor of a hymnal.
Dave received a grant from The Aaron Copland Fund for Music to produce his fourth album Rivers in the Desert.
“There is much to lament [in American society], in Meder’s view. But there is still a shared American life to celebrate, and anyone — with faith or none — can practice hope as a spiritual discipline.” - Lucinda Breeding-Gonzales
Dave is selected for 2024-2026 cohort of the Texas Touring Roster. Interested presenters can receive state grant funds to present Dave at their venue, festival or school.
Dave was selected for the 2024 cohort of the Performing Arts Discovery program of the Western Arts Alliance. He will perform a live showcase at the organization’s annual conference in 2024 and a virtual showcase video is stored here for interested presenters.
Dave received a second competitive touring grant from South Arts to take the ‘New American Hymnal’ Quartet on a short tour through Florida.
“New American Hymnal is strong and commanding…Meder has created compelling compositions and brought together a great quartet performing non-religious songs of worship which directly address our American civic and cultural experiment.” - Anna Steegmann
‘New American Hymnal’ makes the Jazziz Editor’s Choice for late October 2023 releases, alongside albums of Samara Joy, Aaron Diehl, Joey Alexander, John Scofield, and others.
John Chacona for AAJ writes: "Hymn tunes are having a bit of a moment…Meder goes a step further by making the communal nature of hymn-singing a metaphor for the current state of society in the United States…Sing Hallelujah!”
S. Victor Aaron writes: “Meder has made records touching on the topic of religion. These aren’t religious records, they are pondering, probing and practiced records…the whole quartet seems to be having so much fun just testifyin’ that you could almost forget there’s a thoughtful melody being played, here…”
Dave is one of twelve composers selected to receive the 2022 New Jazz Works commissioning grant from Chamber Music America, funded through the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. This grant supports the creation, premiere, and recording of a new extended work over the grant period (2023-2025).
From France Musique 'Jazz Bonus': "The music of 'Unamuno Songs and Stories' follows the jazz tradition while drawing influences from a wide range of sources, including Bach chorales, blues, minimalism and the piano works of Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz."
"Century Rag” from Unamuno Songs and Storiesis featured on Apple Music’s premiere editorial playlist Jazz Currents (as of December 2021).
Cindy Breeding-Gonzales of the Denton Record and Chronicle beautifully writes about the meaning behind Unamuno Songs and Stories, from the conception of the music to the challenges of speaking truth to power in 21st century America. Read the full piece here.
Unamuno Songs and Storiesplaces on the Europe Jazz Network Radio Chart: “…the ideas of Spanish Civil War-era philosopher Miguel de Unamuno as his muse palette to describe the current political spectrum around us. And deep down, we feel the sophisticated romance he exposes as an award-winning jazz pianist of recent years."
“I Look for Religion in War” featuring Philip Dizack, from Unamuno Songs and Stories, was premiered on Something Else Reviews along with a write-up from S. Victor Aaron: “…carries the weight and passion of a full orchestra…Without uttering a word, the music drives home the point that human conflict has become the god that mankind often worships.” See the full review and video here.
Jazziz editor Matt Micucci premieres the first single (featuring Miguel Zenón) from the upcoming album Unamuno Songs and Storieson his New Release Cheat Sheet and Editor’s Playlist, alongside tracks from Esperanza Spalding, Joshua Redman, and others. See the full piece here.
Dave is named a US Fulbright Scholar and will be teaching and researching in Cairo, Egypt for the spring 2022 semester. The grant is affiliated with Cairo Conservatoire and the Binational Fulbright Commission of Egypt.
The Dave Meder ‘Songs and Stories’ trio returns to the road for a Southeast US tour thanks to a “Jazz Road Tours” grant from South Arts(funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation).
Dave is a winner in the 2020 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards, run by the ASCAP Foundation. The winning piece, “**Break Points,**” comes from the 2019 albumPassage. See the release in JazzTimes or in NewMusicBox.
Passage was included in the All Music Guide “Favorite Jazz Albums of 2019”, alongside albums from Joe Lovano, Terri Lyne Carrington, Branford Marsalis and a host of others. “The jazz pianist's engaging debut balances post-bop harmonies with a soulful gospel warmth and contemporary classical sophistication.”
From Robert Ham for DownBeat: “…a great opening salvo for this young bandleader. Meder shows throughout that he has the ability and the style it takes.”
From Ken Micallef for JazzTimes: “…Meder sails through diverse tempos and themes in a manner reminiscent of Oscar Peterson. The pianist’s fingers run circles around his musicians, seeming to leave lofty chemtrail-like spirals in the air.”
From Mike Jurkovic for All About Jazz: “…inventing his music freely, bringing honky-tonk, swing, blues, rock-and-roll—in other words a vibrant hybrid of the whole American spectrum—to bear, making for a **sparkling debut full of exciting promise.**”
S. Victor Aaron at Something Else Reviews features the latest video release from Passage, “The Old Rugged Cross,” filmed at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in February 2018. “…[The Old Rugged Cross] reveals a facet of Meder as that boy playing piano in a church in his native Florida…Regardless of which gear Meder is in, there’s an authenticity to his piano that can’t be schooled.”
